Last week I touched on the subject of predators in general, and why the term is often used, not necessarily incorrectly, but only in its most vitriolic sense to instill fear or anger relative to a particular individual or group of animal species. This week I want to focus on Fairfield County’s local marquee predators that, for better or worse, have been growing in numbers dramatically over the last few decades.

Before we look at our present-day occupants, it’s important to view things from a historical perspective as well. Prior to European settlement, we had multiple large predators that called this area home. Wolves and mountain lions occupied the spot at the top of the food chain, with black bears and bobcats taking on a secondary role as managers of prey populations. Habitat losses and eradication efforts during the 1800’s effectively extirpated these species from Ohio and created a vacuum that, for years, went unfilled.

This began to change in the early 1900s as coyotes, with no wolf presence to deter them, began expanding their range eastward, crossing the Mississippi River and ultimately into Ohio. Coyotes are not native to this area, and the first confirmed occurrence in Ohio happened in 1919 in Logan County. Coyotes continued to be reported sporadically throughout the state into the late 1970s. The first confirmed coyote in Fairfield County was officially reported relatively recently, and showed up sometime in the years between 1982 and 1988 according to scientific literature.

Coyote populations in Fairfield County, and across the Midwest, have grown exponentially ever since as these adaptable creatures have taken up residence and thrived in woodland, farmland, rural-residential and even urban landscapes. Coyotes are opportunistic predators and are not picky with their dinner choices, but a majority of their diet consists of small rodents, rabbits, birds, insects, and fruits and berries. They do prey on young livestock, deer, and occasionally will take domestic cats and small dogs, but these cases are rare. Most attacks on larger domestic dogs are results of territorial disputes or in defense of den sites during the breeding/pupping season, and not predatory in nature, but that does not lessen the negative feelings many people harbor for coyotes and their continued presence in our county.

Bobcats, on the other hand, are a native species that are simply reclaiming their rightful place in the ecosystem. Bobcats first began to be reported in the 1960’s as individual cats ventured across state lines from established populations in Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Even with a protected status, compared to an open season year-round on coyotes, bobcats have been much slower to repopulate the state for a variety of reasons. Low reproductive rate, a solitary lifestyle, and more stringent habitat requirements have all acted as roadblocks to the expansion of this spotted feline.

The tipping point for bobcat success seems to be around 2014, which incidentally was the same year that they were removed from the Ohio endangered and threatened species list. In a more locally relevant comparison, there were less than ten verified bobcat sightings in Fairfield County during the reporting period of 1970-2013, but in 2017 alone there were nine verified reports that were determined to be separate individuals. Part of that can be attributed to trail cameras providing more “eyes in the woods” in recent years, but it still shows undeniable evidence that these animals are becoming more common in our region.

Bobcats are a conservation success story, and I hope that one day I will be able to tell my sons about a time when there were none around and they have a hard time believing me. I encourage anyone who would like to report a bobcat sighting or has pictures of one in Fairfield County to contact me. Even though the population is on a positive path to recovery, it still requires careful monitoring and landowners are our best source of information about the bobcat’s distribution and relative abundance.

Tommy Springer is a wildlife and education specialist with the Soil and Water Conservation District.

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